


Just one condition

by Echo



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 17:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3776815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echo/pseuds/Echo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce is going to run, and Tony's okay with that. Mostly. He just has one condition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just one condition

**Author's Note:**

> The last fic I wrote burned me out by being too damn depressing, so it's been almost 6 months since I last wrote anything. This is me trying to get back into the habit with something slightly less miserable.

"I have one condition."

Bruce looked up, distracted from his final pass over the room. He always traveled light, but it was worth checking for anything he might accidentally leave behind. He slow-blinked his confusion at the man who had just waltzed in like he owned the place. (Which, technically speaking, he did.) "Just the one?" He asked, vaguely.

"I'm not stupid. You booked three different plane flights, all under false names, and your duffel bag is currently failing to be discreet on the floor of the cloakroom. A duffel bag filled, I might add, with some of the most boring clothes I've ever seen." Tony gave him a disappointed look. "If you're going on the run, you could at least run in something that doesn't look like a thrift store reject."

Bruce felt the bottom of his stomach drop. For all the apparent lightness in Tony's words, Bruce could hear the hurt.

"I was going to tell you," he lied.

"No you weren't," Tony dismissed quickly, "you were going do the whole 'thief in the night' thing. I get it, it's fine. Enough people have explained to me over the years, I'm not allowed to treat people like they are my property. If you want to go, then you can go. It's fine. Free will and all that. Just..."

The silence went for just a little too long to be comfortable, and then they both spoke at once.

"Tony, it's not..."

"I have one condition."

Bruce ducked his head, gestured for Tony to continue.

"You take this phone with you. Keep it charged. Call me once a week. Even if all you say is 'I'm still alive' then hang up, that's fine. You can say more if you want, that's totally cool, not going to hang up on you after three words, I just need to know that you're okay. That you're not lying in a proverbial ditch, or trapped in some clandestine military facility being drugged out of you brain, or... you know... _Low_."

Bruce pressed his lips together, stared at the phone because it was easier than making eye contact. This wasn't such an unreasonable demand, not really, and it might be nice to know that if something really bad did happen then there would be someone... But...

"Phones can be traced, Tony. Even if you promise not to track me with this, someone else might. Someone dangerous."

"Nope," Tony interrupted, "not with this. It's not even technically a phone. It's a portable micro-node from JARVIS' central cluster. No SIM card, no off-the shelf operating system. I just put it inside a phone case to be stealthy." He pulled a face. "Not even a good phone case. A _Nokia_."

Bruce couldn't quite hide his amusement, so he looked at the utterly nondescript phone instead. "JARVIS?" he tested.

"Yes, Doctor Banner? Do you require assistance?" The sound was small and tinny, yet instantly recognizable. Bruce got the feeling that the phone was being disapproving, which was off-putting if understandable. Bruce wasn't entirely sure quite how developed the AI was emotionally, but he was pretty confident that he was capable of feeling the sting of abandonment.

"Oh, no, I was just... Testing the phone. Are you okay, in that tiny little case?"

Apparently mollified somewhat by Bruce's concern, JARVIS replied more normally, "I am quite well. Only a small replica of my core routines exist in this device, the majority of my processing is performed on my main clusters."

"Good," Bruce nodded, "that's good." He sat down on the stool by the bench, needing that small amount of solidity, then looked back at Tony.

"You won't use it to track me? Won't have JARVIS spy on me without my permission?"

Tony shrugged "As long as you keep calling on schedule, then where you are and what you're doing is your business."

Bruce nodded slowly. "And... If I don't agree to your condition? If I leave the phone here, or ditch it somewhere on the way to the airport?"

"Then I will chase you around this globe like you're Carmen Sandiego, and when I find you I'll drag you right back here where JARVIS and I can keep a proper eye on you."

The thought should have been horrifying, but mostly Bruce felt reassured. Which was a different kind of horrifying.

"And if I don't call? If one week, I forget to let you know I'm still okay?"

"Then, and let me make this very, very clear, all bets are off. I will be at your last known location as fast as repulsor boots can get me there. Which, for future reference, is pretty damn fast. And I will hunt you down, and when I find you, I will exercise my right to kidnap you back to my tower, where I will keep you locked up in the penthouse like you're a princess and I am a very possessive dragon."

Bruce chuckled, nodded, and stood.

"That seems fair." He said, dropping the phone into his pocket and crossing the distance between them. He wrapped a loose arm around Tony, the kind of contact which both of them had been starved of for so long, but had rediscovered in their time together. "Thank you, for understanding."

Tony's jaw clenched and he looked away, even as his own arm curled around Bruce's back. "Your flight leaves in three hours. I can have Happy drive you if you like, but I guess you probably prefer something more subtle?"

Bruce nodded. "I suppose I'll talk to you in a week then." It was a statement, rather than a question.

"In a week." Tony agreed. They pulled apart, shuffling feet and generally being awkward.

Bruce took a deep breath, cast a final eye around the room, and was almost at the door when Tony spoke again.

"Or sooner, if you like. The weekly thing, that's a minimum, but if you want to call more, that's fine too."

Bruce turned around, looked at Tony hard. Tony, who was looking at everything except Bruce. The phone was light in his pocket, but even that small weight meant something. And leaving was proving to be a lot harder than it should have been.

"We'll talk soon. I promise."


End file.
